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Bruins sign three free agents

The Boston Bruins have agreed to terms on contracts with defensemen Wade Brookbank and Jason York and left wing Jeff Hoggan, it was announced today by Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli.

All players were unrestricted free agents and, in keeping with club policy, terms of the contracts were not released.

Brookbank, 28, enters his eighth professional season. He was not drafted by an NHL team, playing his first two pro seasons with Oklahoma City/CHL and Orlando/IHL before signing with Ottawa as a free agent in July, 2001 and playing two seasons with Ottawa’s AHL affiliates in Grand Rapids and Binghamton. The 6’4”, 225 lb. native of Lanigan, Saskatchewan missed all but eight games of the 2002-03 season with a knee injury and was claimed by Nashville from Ottawa in the 2003 NHL Waiver Draft. He played for five teams in three organizations in 2003-04, including 29 NHL games in Nashville and Vancouver. He played the 2004-05 season with Vancouver’s AHL affiliate in Manitoba before playing his first full NHL season in 2005-06 with the Canucks. He had one goal and two assists for three points with 81 PIM in 32 games with Vancouver last season, missing 14 games with injuries. He has NHL totals of 3-2=5 totals with 214 penalty minutes in 61 career games.

York, 36, enters his 15th professional season and Boston becomes his fifth NHL organization. He played four seasons of junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League with Hamilton, Windsor and Kitchener with 56 goals and 188 assists for 244 points with 310 PIM in 253 career junior games, including 13-80=93 totals in his final junior season in 1990-91. The 6’2”, 208 lb. native of Nepean, Ontario was drafted by Detroit as their sixth pick (seventh round), 129th overall, in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft and split his first four pro seasons between the Red Wings and their AHL affiliate in Adirondack. He has also played for Anaheim, Ottawa and Nashville and enjoyed his best NHL seasons during a five-year span with the Senators from 1996-2001. York played last season with Lugano in Switzerland with three goals and 17 assists for 20 points and 122 penalty minutes in 34 games. His NHL totals are 41 goals and 180 assists for 221 points with 589 penalty minutes in 708 career games.

Hoggan, 28, enters his sixth professional season. He played three years of college hockey at the University of Nebraska-Omaha with 52-99=151 totals and 252 PIM in 117 career college games and earned CCHA First Team All-Star and NCAA West Second Team All-American honors in 2001-02. The 6’1”, 195 lb. native of Hope, British Columbia was not drafted, signing as a free agent with Minnesota in August 2002. He spent his first two pro seasons in Houston/AHL before signing an AHL contract with Worcester in September, 2004 and playing the 2004-05 season with the Ice Cats. He signed as a free agent with St. Louis on August 2, 2005 and played his first full NHL season last year with the Blues with two goals and six assists for eight points and 34 penalty minutes in 52 games.